4,**  LVD  I 


XOTES  ON  THE  "ADESTE  FI DELES." 


NOTES  ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MELODY  OF  THE  "  ADESTE 

FIDELES." 

WITH  the  exception  of  the  Dies  Irae  and  the  Stabat  Mater, 
it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  a  more  popular  hymn  in  our 
churches  than  the  Adeste  Fideies.  For  close  on  two  hundred 
years  this  cento — for  the  entire  hymn  is  hardly  ever  sung — has 
been  inseparably  associated  with  the  Christmas  season,  and  yet 
both  words  and  music  cannot  be  traced  farther  back  than  1720- 
It  is  extraordinary  what  a  romantic  halo  encircles  some  of  our 
best  known  hymns  and  folk  tunes.  Frequently  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  omne  ignotum*  pro  mirifico,  the  most  widely  differing 
accounts  of  many  popular  sacred  melodies  are  to  be  met  with, 
and  in  several  cases  any  attempt  to  trace  either  the  author  or  com- 
poser has  proved  elusive. 

Until  a  few  years  back  the  more  generally  received  account 
of  the  origin  of  the  Adeste  Fideies  was  that  the  music  was  due  to 
John  Reading,  organist  of  Winchester  College,  about  the  year 
1680.  This  account  was  first  circulated  by  Vincent  Novello, 
organist  of  the  Portuguese  Chapel,  London,  from  1797  to  1822, 
and  of  the  pro-Cathedral,  Moorfields,  from  1840  to  1843,1  wno 
printed  the  melody  in  his  Home  Music  (1843),  set  to  Psalm  106, 
with  the  heading  :  "  Air  by  Reading,  1680."  The  following  is  an 
extract  from  Novello's  note  as  to  the  air  : 

"  John  Reading  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Blow  (the  master  of  Purcell) 
and  was  first  employed  at  Lincoln  Cathedral.  He  afterwards  became 
organist  to  St.  John's  Hackney,  and  finally  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the 
West  and  St.  Mary's,  Woolnoth,  London.  He  published  toward  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  collection  of  anthems  of  his  own 
composition,  and  his  productions  are  generally  esteemed  for  their 
tastefully  simple  melodies  and  appropriately  natural  harmonies.  This 
piece  obtained  its  name  of  '  The  Portuguese  Hymn '  from  the  acci- 
dental circumstance  of  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  who  was  a  director  of  the 
Concert  of  Ancient  Music,  many  years  since  (about  the  year  1785), 
having  heard  the  hymn  first  performed  at  the  Portuguese  Chapel,  and 
who,  supposing  it  to  be  peculiar  to  the  service  in  Portugal,  intro- 
duced the  melody  at  the  Ancient  Concerts,  giving  it  the  title  of  the 
'  Portuguese    Hymn,'    by    which  appellation    this  very  favorite  and 

1  His  daughter  Clara,  Countess  of  Gigliucci,  born  in  1818,  is  still  living  in 
Rome.      She  was  the  leading  English  soprano  from  1839  till  her  retirement  in  i860. 


Sc 


708  THE  DOLPHIN. 

popular  tune  has  ever  since  been  distinguished ;  but  it  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  choir  of  the  Portuguese  Chapel,  being  the  regular 
Christmas  hymn,  Adeste  Fideles,  that  is  sung  in  every  Catholic  chapel 
throughout  England." 

Let  me  now  briefly  examine  Novello's  historical  note.  The 
melody  is  said  to  be  the  composition  of  John  Reading  in  1680, 
a  pupil  of  Dr.  Blow,  etc.  The  fact  is  that  this  John  Reading, 
whose  organ  appointments  are  quoted,  was  not  born  till  1677, 
and  consequently  was  only  three  years  old  in  1680,  which  date  is 
assigned  for  the  publication  of  a  collection  of  anthems  including 
the  Adeste  Fideles  !  His  birth  took  place  in  1677,  and  his  Book 
of  Anthems  was  published  in  17 16.  He  died  in  London,  on  Sep- 
tember 25,  1764.  Almost  needless  to  add,  the  Adeste  Fideles 
does  not  appear  among  the  Anthems. 

But  there  were  three  John  Readings.  I  have  disposed  of  one, 
leaving  the  other  two  to  be  dealt  with.  John  Reading  (No.  2), 
organist  of  Winchester  Cathedral,  is  by  some  accredited  as  the 
composer  of  the  Christmas  hymn.  He  was  lay  vicar  of  Lincoln 
Cathedral  in  1667,  and  Master  of  the  Choristers  there  in  1670.  In 
1675  he  succeeded  Randall  Jewitt  at  Winchester,  which  position 
he  held  till  1681,  when  he  was  replaced  by  Daniel  Roseingrave. 

From  1 68 1  to  his  death  in  1692,  he  was  organist  and  music 
master  of  Winchester  College,  and  is  said  to  have  composed  the 
College  "  Graces  "  including  the  celebrated  Dulce  domum,  printed 
in  Harmonia  Wykehamica,  in  1808.  His  claim  to  the  Adeste 
Fideles  rests  on  no  evidence,  and  indeed  it  is  very  doubtful  if  he 
composed  Dulce  domum,  which  I  may  remark  smacks  strongly 
of  the  flavor  of  "  Papa  "  Haydn. 

Just  a  word  as  to  the  claim  of  John  Reading  (No.  3).  This 
composer  was  organist  of  Chichester  Cathedral  from  1674  to  1720, 
and  the  only  evidence  yet  brought  forward  in  support  of  his 
alleged  composition  of  the  Adeste  Fideles  is  the  similarity  of  name 
with  the  other  two  above  mentioned. 

Let  us  now  come  to  the  actual  manuscripts  and  printed  copies 
of  the  hymn  from  1745  to  1845,  after  which  latter  year  the  setting 
as  at  present  used  came  into  general  vogue.  But  first  I  must  dis- 
miss a  recent  legend  to  the  effect  that  the  air  is  to  be  found  in  a 
sixteenth  century  Gradual  of  the  Cistercian  Order.  I  have  ex- 
amined the  Cistercian  Gradual   of  various  dates  within  the  six- 


NOTES  ON  THE  "ADESTE  FIDELESr  709 

teenth  century,  and  nothing  approaching  a  modernly  constructed 
tune,  such  as  is  the  Adeste  Fideles,  is  to  be  found  therein.  An 
esteemed  member  of  the  Cistercian  community  at  Mount  Mel- 
leray  corroborates  this  statement,  but  internal  evidence  alone 
would  be  tolerably  conclusive  as  pointing  to  the  first  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  I  may  further  state  that  no  tune  even 
remotely  resembling  the  Christmas  hymn  is  to  be  found  in  the 
printed  composition  of  John  Reading  (No.  1),  or  yet  in  his  ten 
autograph  manuscript  volumes  at  present  belonging  to  Dr.  W. 
H.  Cummings,  of  London. 

The  oldest  existing  manuscript  of  the  melody  so  far  discovered 
is  in  a  volume  of  Masses  and  motets  formerly  belonging  to 
Father  Peter  Kenny,  S.J.,  the  founder  of  Clongowes  Wood  Col- 
lege, Co.  Kildare  (Ireland),  containing  autograph  musical  scores 
of  various  dates  between  the  years  1 740  and  1 749.  In  this  volume 
is  an  extraordinary  musical  tour  de  force,  namely  a  48-part  Mass, 
arranged  for  twelve  choirs  of  four  voices  each.  I  frequently 
examined  this  old  folio  during  the  years  that  I  was  master  at 
Clongowes  Wood  College,  some  twenty  years  ago. 

Of  somewhat  later  date  is  another  precious  musical  manu- 
script, now  belonging  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  English 
Province,  at  Stonyhurst  College,  near  Blackburn,  in  Lancashire. 
This  manuscript  is  beautifully  penned  throughout  by  Father  John 
Francis  Wade,  and  the  date  175 1  is  clearly  given  in  the  book, 
being  written  for  a  certain  Nicholas  King.  The  title-page  runs 
as  follows  :  "  Cantus  diversi  pro  Dominicis  et  Festis  per  annum  : 
Gloria  Patri,  post  Introitum,  Kyrie,  Gloria  in  excelsis,  Credo, 
Sanctus,  and  Agnus  Dei.  Cum  Hymnis  et  Antiphonis  ad  Eleva- 
tionem  et  Benedictionem.  Et  ex  praecordiis  sonent  praeconia. 
Nicolaus  King,  ejus  Cantus.  Joannes  Franciscus  Wade,  scriptor. 
Anno  Domini  MDCCLI." 

Whilst  the  Clongowes  manuscript  has  merely  the  tune,  the 
Stonyhurst  volume  has  words  and  music.2  In  the  latter  manu- 
script there  are  only  four  verses, — the  first,  second,  seventh,  and 
eighth  of  the  full  text ;  and  the  music  is  given  for  each  stanza, 
the  hymn  being  headed  u  In  Nativitate  Domini  Hymnus,"  or,  as 
it  was    more    generally  termed,  "  Christmas    Hymn."     Thus  in 

2  A  third  MS.  containing  the  words  and  music  of  the  Adeste  Fideles  is  now  in 
St.  Edmund's  College,  Ware  (England).  It  is  dated  1760,  and  does  not  materially 
differ  from  the  Stonyhurst  MS. 


7IO  THE  D0LPH1X. 

1750  the  original  eight  verses  had  been  reduced  to  the  present 
cento,  but  it  is  of  interest  to  state  that  the  Latin  verses  generally 
sung  at  the  same  period  in  France  were  the  first,  third,  fifth,  and 
sixth.3 

The  first  printed  version  of  the  tune  is  in  an  extremely  rare 
volume  of  Hymns  for  Catholic  Service,  published  in  1766  by 
Charles  Barbandt,  organist  of  the  Bavarian  Chapel  in  London. 
Sixteen  years  later,  in  1782,  the  hymn-tune  appeared  in  a  little 
book  entitled  An  Essay  on  the  Church  Plain  Chant,  published 
by  an  Irish  Catholic  in  London.  This  small  volume,  also  very 
rare,  is  in  three  parts,  and  the  Adeste  Fideles  was  printed  in  Part  II, 
which  is  described  as  "  containing  several  Anthems,  Litanies, 
Proses,  and  Hymns,  as  they  are  sung  in  the  Public  Chapels  at 
London." 

It  has  been  suggested  that  Samuel  Webbe,  senior,  arranged  the 
music  for  Coghlan's  volume,  and  he  certainly  composed  many  of 
the  pieces  contained  in  the  second  part ;  but  his  claim  as  composer 
of  the  Adeste  Fideles  cannot  at  all  be  entertained  inasmuch  as  the 
air  is  to  be  met  with  in  1745,  when  Webbe  was  but  five  years  of 
age.  Moreover  the  tune  was  simply  taken  from  Barbandt's 
volume,  printed  in  1766,  doubtless  with  the  permission  of  Bar- 
bandt, who  was  Webbe's  teacher,  and  we  have  no  evidence  that 
Webbe  composed  anything  prior  to  the  year  1761,  when  he  be- 
came Barbandt's  deputy  at  the  chapel  of  the  Bavarian  embassy. 

We  next  find  the  air  included  in  Webbe's  Collection  of  Motets 
or  Antiphons  published  in  London  in  1792,  and  thenceforward  it 
was  included  in  almost  every  collection  of  sacred  music.  The 
first  copy  I  have  met  with  as  printed  in  Ireland  is  in  a  small  col- 
lection issued  by  P.  Wogan  of  Dublin  in  1805,  just  a  hundred 
years  ago.     I  give  this  setting  on  the  opposite  page. 

The  earliest  known  copy  of  the  Latin  words  of  the  hymn  is 
in  Father  Wade's  manuscript  (175  1),  but  their  first  appearance  in 
print  cannot  be  traced  farther  back  than  the  year  1760  when  the 
Christmas  Hymn  was  included  in  "  the  evening  office  of  the 
Church."  In  this  work,  of  which  three  previous  editions — none 
of  which  contained  the  hymn — had  appeared  respectively  in  1710, 

3  In  December,  1901,  an  interesting  setting  of  the  Adeste  Fideles  with  the  full 
text  of  eight  verses  was  published  by  Dom  Samuel  Gregory  Ould,O.S.B.  Each 
of  the  eight  verses  had  an  accompaniment  by  eight  modern  composers,  including 
Sir  Walter  Parrott  and  Sir  Hubert  Parry. 


NOTES  ON  THE  "ADESTE  FIDELES. 


711 


1725,  and  1748,  the  Adeste  Fideles  is  prefaced  as  follows :  "  From 
the  Nativity  of  our  Lord  to  the  Purification  exclusively ;  whilst 
the  Benediction  is  giving  is  sung  Adeste  Fideles!' 

Adeste  Fideles. 
from  christmas  to  the  octave  of  epiphany.      [1805] 


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Do-mi-num.         Natum  videte,  etc. 
videte,  etc. 

English  words  were  adapted  to  the  hymn  about  the  year  1825, 
and  another  version  was  given  by  Father  William  Young,  of 
Dublin  in  1840,  printed  with  the  music  in  the  Catholic  Choralist 
(Dublin),  in  1842.  As  Father  Young  was  regarded  as  a  saint 
equally  with  his  brother,  Father  Charles  Young  (whose  life  has 
been  charmingly  written  by  Lady  Georgiana  Fullerton),  many 
readers  may  be  glad  to  see  this  specimen  by  his  translation,  given 
with  the  music  on  page  712. 

At  length  in  1841,  Canon  Oakley,  then  Rector  of  St.  Mar- 
garet's, London,  wrote  a  new  translation  of  the  hymn,  which  was 
published  in  1844.  The  year  following,  he  became  a  convert.  It 
is  this  translation  which  has  ever  since  been  sung  in  Anglican 
churches,  commencing  :  "  O  come  all  ye  faithful."  It  was  included 
in  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern.  The  English  words,  however, 
do  not  go  so  smoothly  with  the  music  as  the  original  Latin.     It 


712 


THE  DOLPHIN. 


is  almost  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  Latin  words  are  universally 
sung  in  our  Catholic  churches,  and  the  tune  is  generally  played  as 
a  prelude  and  postlude  on  Christmas  morning. 

Adeste  Fideles.  [1842] 

sung  each    day    from    christmas   till    the    octave    of  the 
epiphany  at  mass,  vespers,  and  benediction. 


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To  sum  up.  It  may  be  taken  as  tolerably  certain  that  the 
words  and  music  of  this  tuneful  Christmas  hymn  go  back  to  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  are  to  be  attributed  to 
a  Catholic  source  and  for  Catholic  worship. 

Wm.  H.  Grattan  Flood. 

Enniscorthy,  Ireland, 


